Picking up a challenge

And it was at that age…
Poetry arrived in search of me.
I don't know, I don't know where it
came from,
From winter or a river...
But from a street it called me,
From the branches of night, abruptly from the others
Among raging fires or returning alone,
There it was, without a face,
And it touched me.

I have long known these lines of the poem by Pablo Neruda, unaware that they had been written first in Spanish. It was what inspired me to plunge into Latin American literature; into writing which lightens the darkness, liberates the soul, and opens the heavens to us.

Decades later, I read in The New Yorker that Neruda once told his translator, "I don't want you to translate my poems, I want you to improve them." That translator was Alastair Reid, poet, essayist and staff writer for The New Yorker. He also translated the haunting poems of Jorge Luis Borges. Reid believes anonymity is the greatest success of translation. The artistry lies in metamorphosing the original intoa form and linguistic style that seem natural to it in the new tongue. "Every translation I do depends much more on my command of English than my command of Spanish," he has been quoted as saying.

Everyone knows how difficult translating from one language to another is. But none more so than the staff of the Translation and Arabic Studies Department of the American University of Sharjah (AUS). "Translation is a craft," said Dr Peter Heath, chancellor of AUS, at a recently held symposium on ‘Translation in the United Arab Emirates' at the AUS. "One starts off as a student and then with regular practice becomes a practitioner, and subsequently, years later, is acknowledged as a master."

For those living, say, in the US or the UK, it's easy to forget that most of the world does not speak English, and that much of the world's literature is not written in English. For them, as well as many others for whom English is the bridge language, to read the best of what the rest of the world writes - and in order for the rest of the world to experience the best of English literature - skilled writers must work on the art of translation.

Translation is more than about just being able to read stories written in other languages. Literature is not just stories or entertainment, it is another form of recorded history, of society's social norms and mores during the time that it was written.

Perhaps more importantly, it is also an instrument of social change. Both poetry and prose have been responsible for much of the social change in most parts of the world.

That is why translation of literature is so important; it is not just a way to transport stories across continents, but an avenue to express unique ideas. Just look at the translated religious texts that have moved from both West to East and back to see the profound impact translated literature can have.

Bridge to understanding

"Translation is highly important for the progress of nations," says Dr Sattar Izwaini, assistant professor of translation at the AUS, who presented a paper at the symposium. "The transfer of knowledge requires translation in the fields of science and technology. It is also crucial in cross-cultural communication. It helps in mutual understanding of cultures and civilisations. Without translation, cultures will be isolated, and there will be a lack of appropriate understanding of each other, which can lead to a potential clash. It also helps in making people more open-minded and accepting of others based on clear understanding of mentality, traditions, rituals and all other aspects of culture."

"For the UAE, translation from and into Arabic is a crucial means of communicating with the world and providing an image of UAE achievements and culture in an increasingly globalised world."

But it's not as straightforward as you might think. A good translation needs to be true to the original and able to stand on its own for a new audience. That is what raises the craft of translation into an art.

There is also the question of culture that comes into play. It may be the passport for a given culture's journey abroad. But how much of that culture translates well? "Translation never gives a clear cultural window," agrees Dr Said Faiq, Professor of Translation and interim head of the Arabic Studies Department at AUS. "There are always blurred areas, grey areas which are left for interpretation by the translators. There is always the third voice apart from the author and the reader. We are dealing with very human writers… there is always the intention of the publisher… there are the expectations of the reader and the ideas of the translator. Within all this, they come with the context of who commissions or pays for the translation. Some translations are driven by different agenda - one, for example, could be a political mindset, whereas some translations are real reflections."

Looking at the bigger picture

Dr Faiq feels that culture is a complex entity. "The way I see it, there are two parts - micro culture and macro culture," he says. "Micro culture is about the people of a place, their way of dressing, the food they eat, and so on. Those are the material culture aspects. A fish is a fish whether you eat it in Thailand or you eat it in New York. The difference is in the way it is prepared. But that is not a problem. The way it is eaten - with a fork or with hands - too is not a problem.

"The problem comes in with macro culture issues. These are the components of religion, belief systems, social systems, history and the language itself. What matters is how these components are perceived and represented through a translation. For example, the word ‘jihad' is fixed in English as it originally came from Arabic. In Arabic it does not mean what it was translated to mean in English: the term can equally have many positive associations. So also, the word ‘intifada' which has now taken on a fixed meaning and reference in English."

Dr Faiq says that translators have to watch for these macro cultural pitfalls. "This is where we have to pay attention and avoid mistranslation. If we look at history, the Persian empire, the Greeks, the Indians, the Chinese, they all translated. But there was not much manipulation.

"It is the more recent cultural manipulations that have deformed the views of particular cultures. That's how you get these popular impressions such as the stereotypes of Italians being loud. These are not really helping inter-cultural translations. I agree there are always manipulations and interventions by the translator. But since the Eighties we have seen more cultural manipulations than ever before."

"Culture is an intrinsic element of the language [being translated] and the cultural aspect needs to be taken particular care of while translating," says Izwaini.

"In translating into Arabic, the Emirati audience, as an Arabic-speaking audience with a local culture, would need some cultural adaptation of the original text to be able to fully understand and interact with the text."

The situation in the UAE appears to be there is not enough translation being done. The problems are myriad. "The challenges in translating into Arabic are inherent in the languages we translate from as well as in the linguistic system of Arabic," says Dr Izwaini. "This is a broad area and can be summarised in four levels of lexis [vocabulary], grammar and syntax, pragmatics and culture. Words can have either a wider or narrower sense, or a combined meaning that can be denoted by more than one word. Arabic has an elaborate morphology, and its grammar is quite different from other languages, European and otherwise," he explains.

Singular traits

"The way other languages express ideas, thoughts and concepts can be very different from the way Arabic expresses them. Translations into Arabic tend to be literal and import expressions verbatim from other languages, especially English. This is because translators are either passive or do not have a good command of Arabic, or because of the ‘linguistic recycle' Arabic has witnessed overthe years," Dr Izwaini says.

When it comes to translating into Arabic, nobody is really sure about statistics. This is because there are 22 Arabic-speaking countries that translate at their own pace and often in their own dialects.

"Current statistics on translation in the Arab world are not readily available, but some older figures show that, for example, between 1971 and 1981 there were around 2,600 books translated into the Arabic language," says Dr Faiq. "So imagine, 22 Arabic countries put together translated only that many. I think Spain independently translates much more than this. France and Germany each translate in hundreds of thousands and millions. So there is a lot of potential for translation inthe Arab world."

Dialect dilemmas

Obviously there are challenges to be faced when translating into Arabic. One of them is the question of the various dialects spoken, and the standard Arabic used as a bridge. "The challenges facing translation into any language are common," explains Dr Noura Al No'man, director of the Executive Office of Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. "Arabic is an ancient and rich language, but in the last few centuries modern standard Arabic [MSA] is what is commonly used in newspapers, magazines and printed literature, including school textbooks. But the 22 Arab countries do not use it for their daily interaction.

"Each country has its own dialect which draws from MSA, but is also different. As someone once said: ‘Arabic is the working language to all, but it is a tongue to none'. But when translating, all translators in all 22 countries use MSA as a target language, and only rarely use their own dialects (it really depends on the purpose of the text being translated).

"In the UAE, we hardly ever translate any text into Emirati Arabic - in fact people go out of their way to not go this route because we are all aware of the importance of classic Arabicand its relation to our identity aswell as its relation to the sacred text of the Quran."

Dr Al No'man says the problems of translating for children remain much the same. "Emirati children are like all other Arab children," she says. "They need to understand two languages - their own dialect, as well as MSA. But when reading, everyone reads in MSA. And as with all other children, they face the frustration of reading unattractive, uninteresting books written in a language unrelated to their daily lives.

"All challenges aside, writing and translating for children is a whole new ball game which needs a new set of rules. These rules, sadly, have not been written yet. There is no standard way of translating or writing for children in the Arab world. My recommendation, which is shared by many people in the field of children's literature, is that, beside the known challenges of unattractive stories and a tendency to lecture children, we need to look at Arabic in a different way, from the perspective of the various ages of children and start using MSA from a smarter and more attractive angle. Yes, we'll still be using Arabic [not dialects]; but we'll use more accessible words, and we can stretch that limit as the children get older and introduce new vocabulary into their lives."

A demanding task

Dr Izwaini feels that challenges in translating into Arabic are inherent in the languages we translate from as well as in the linguistic system of Arabic. "Words can have either a wider or narrower sense, or a combined meaning that can be denoted by more than word. Arabic has an elaborate morphology, and its grammar is quite different from other languages, whether European or otherwise. The way other languages express ideas, thoughts, and concepts can be very different from the way Arabic expresses them. Translations into Arabic tend to be literal and import expressions verbatim from other languages, especially English. This is because the translators are either passive or do not have a good command of Arabic, or because of the linguistic recycle Arabic has witnessed over the years."

Experts, however, aver that translation is growing in the UAE, but lacks coordination and regulation. "The translation industry does not have the required legal, economic and social infrastructure to flourish," says Dr Izwaini. "For example, there is no code of ethics, and even a simple thing like a translators' association - where such matters can be discussed - has not yet been formed. Governmental and private companies have translation departments or staff translators who carry out their needs [regarding] translations. On the positive side there are knowledge-transference oriented pioneering projects such as Kalima in Abu Dhabi and Tarjim and Turjuman in Dubai."

Three-point aim of translation

Dr Izwaini feels one area where translation plays a vital role is in advertisements and media translation.

"This is where translation playsa major role in the economic and social life of the UAE," he opines.

"This kind of translation has an impact on the Arabic language if the translation is not well-written in terms of the linguistic expressions and style. It usually sounds as if it is English in Arabic disguise, some kind of a third language.

"There is a need that those organisations, governmental or private, have a well-structured and meticulous revision and editing procedure of translations, especially those distributed widely and published by the media suchas news items and reports, andfilm subtitling."

Dr Faiq feels that it depends on how you look at it.

"My own perception is thatit depends on what you want translation to do for you. The object of all translations are three-fold: social, cultural and political. So it depends on which aspect you wantto highlight.

"I feel that translation into Arabic that enriched Arab civilisation in the past, has not really managed to do so for its modern counterpart; translation projects need to be established as ingredients of overall social enterprises."

The reason is simple. "I think the translation into Arabic is fragmented," he says.

"Each Arab country does it [translation] in its own fashion. In the UAE, the Kalima and Tarjim projects give some hope. Sharjah also has its translation projects. The Tarjim project seeks to translate one book a day. The Kalima project's target is to translate as many as 1,000 books, which is an ambitious aim.

"The aim is to bring in as much foreign knowledge as possible through the Arabic language to the Arab citizen."

The issue that concerns the Arabic language is not merely a lack of translated texts.

"There are only two or three nations in the Arab world which use Arabic in education," says Dr Faiq. "The rest of the Arab world either uses English or French..."

"As I said in the paper I presented at AUS, I look forward to the day that an Emirati family starts complaining about the time their teenager spends reading a novel written originally in Arabic," sums up Dr Al Noman.